Dominici affair
| Sir Jack Cecil Drummond | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 January 1891 Leicester, United Kingdom |
| Died | 4 or 5 August 1952 (aged 61) Lurs, France |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Biochemist |
| Lady Anne Drummond | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Anne Wilbraham 10 December 1907 Epsom, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Died | 4 or 5 August 1952 (aged 44) Lurs, France |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Secretary, writer |
| Elizabeth A. Drummond | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 March 1942 London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 5 August 1952 (aged 10) Lurs, France |
| Nationality | British |
The Dominici affair was the criminal investigation into the triple murder of three Britons in France. During the night of 4/5 August 1952, Sir Jack Drummond, a 61-year-old scientist; his 44-year-old wife Anne Wilbraham; and their 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth were murdered next to their car which was parked in a lay-by near La Grand'Terre, the farm belonging to the Dominici family, located near the village of Lurs in the département of Basses-Alpes (now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). Family patriarch Gaston Dominici was convicted of the three murders in 1957 and sentenced to death, though it was widely believed that his guilt had not been clearly established. In 1957, President René Coty commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, and on 14 July 1960, President Charles de Gaulle ordered Gaston Dominici's release on humanitarian grounds due to his poor health, but he was never pardoned or given a re-trial. Gaston Dominici died 4 April 1965. The affair made international headlines at the time.
On the evening of 4 August 1952, while they were holidaying in France in their Hillman car with registration number NNK686, the Drummond family made a stop along National Highway 96, 165 metres from La Grand'Terre, a farm in the municipality of Lurs. They stopped by the mile marker 6 km south of Peyruis and 6 km north of La Brillanne. A bridge spanned the railway 60 metres from the road. A path winds down both sides of the railway line to the bank of the Durance river.
The Grand'Terre farm was inhabited by the Dominicis, a family of farmers comprising patriarch Gaston (75), his wife Marie (73), nicknamed "The Sardine" (1879–1974), their son Gustave (33), Gustave's wife Yvette (20), and their baby son Alain (10 months). The family was of Italian origin: Gaston's great-grandfather moved from Piedmont to Seyne in 1800 to work the land. Clovis Dominici, older brother of Gustave, also became involved on the day of the murders.
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Wikipedia